Here Without You
by puppet and clown
Summary: Everything's turning out very well, even Akane and Ranma's relationship until a young woman and a small kid arrive at the Tendo's. What will happen? Will these two greatly affect the relationship of Akane and Ranma? Please give it a shot and review. Than
1. Happy Birthday, Akane!

**Disclaimer:** I own Ranma ½! Just kidding. Of course I don't own it. Rumiko Takahashi does. Anyway, the title of the story comes from the song, **Here Without You by 3 Doors Down**. The only thing I own is the plot and some characters that don't exist in the manga/anime.

**Author's Notes:** Hiya! I don't know how to say this but here it goes. This is actually my second Ranma fic. I've deleted the first one because a new, better idea came into my mind. Well, this story is pretty much the same as the first but this has more drama. Anyway, I hope you like it. Please read and review. I promise it's worthy of your time. Thanks a bunch!

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**HERE WITHOUT YOU **

**Chapter 1 – Happy Birthday, Akane! **

It had been few years since they almost got married. Yeah. They were about to get married but thanks a lot to a bunch of nincompoops who fought over the gift for the groom. Because of that, the wedding was postponed and until now, they couldn't get married because their fathers were still looking for money. They wanted a grand wedding for their kids, a wedding that everyone could remember.

Akane and Ranma were now in their college years. Both were taking up a business management course, thinking it would help them in managing the dojo once they took over it. Ranma didn't like the idea at first but he was forced by his dad to take it. He would train himself in the mountains for a week or two as Akane would prefer being left in the house and do her training at the dojo.

Their attitude toward each other was still the same. Still stubborn as always. Ranma would still tease Akane, telling her she's uncute, unsexy and a terrible cook. Then, Akane would retort and a brawl would soon begin. But, that's just normal.

The sun was setting; it was almost six in the evening. The classes had ended and then the students left the college building. Ranma and Akane walked off the room after all their classmates had gone. Ranma pulled something off his pocket as they began walking through the almost dark and empty hallway. It was a small, hard, leather case.

"Akane," he called her name which made her stop walking.

"What is it, Ranma?" she asked, looking up to her fiancé and wondering what he would say.

"I…," he suddenly lost his words as he saw her eyes. _Damn it! Ranma, there's no time for you to be nervous._ He opened his mouth but still no words came out.

She stared still at him, waiting for what he's gonna say. But, he got tongue-tied. He felt his heart beating rapidly as if he had just raced against a horse. "What's the matter?" she asked.

Ranma choked, staring at his feet. _I guess today is not the right time._ He thought as he shook his head, putting the case back inside his pocket.

"Then let's go home. I'm sure Kasumi has prepared a special dinner for us," Akane said, smiling at him. Then, she began walking.

Ranma stood still, couldn't believe himself. _Stupid me! How can I give this thing to her if I keep being like this? Argh!_ He realized Akane was already ahead of him so he walked quickly.

They got out of the building and made their way to the train station. They took a train from the university to Nerima. As soon as they reached the place, they got off the train and decided to walk from the station to their house.

The sky was red; it was such a nice scene. Akane didn't get the smile off her face as she was happy today. It was her 19th birthday. She's really glad this day turned out well. So far, she hadn't got any threats from Ranma's other fiancées. Yet…

"Akane!" a familiar voice called out her name.

Hearing this, she turned around to see who called her. She was not surprised to see Shampoo standing way ahead of her. She took a deep breath, feeling a bit disappointed. She thought all along everything would be fine. Yet, Shampoo's here, probably planning to make her life worse.

"Shampoo," Ranma spoke first before Akane could say something.

Shampoo walked closely to them with her one arm behind her back, seeming to hide something. "Ranma better get away from this. It's a thing between Shampoo and Akane," she said, painting a wicked smile on her face.

"Urgh! Not again. How can you not be so tired of doing this? Come on, Shampoo. Take a break," Akane said as she put her bag down. Then, she readied herself, clenching her fists and cracking her fingers. She's in her fighting stance.

Yet, Shampoo didn't give an answer. She seemed too focused on something.

Sensing that trouble was gonna happen, Ranma instantly spoke, "Shampoo, I know you're planning something. Whatever your plan may be, please stop it. I don't want any trouble. I don't want you to get hurt."

Hearing this, she stopped walking and she and Akane looked at him. "Aiya! Ranma do care about Shampoo. Ranma made Shampoo happy!" she said vigorously, smiling at him.

Akane narrowed her eyes at him, seeming to be jealous. "What does that suppose to mean?" she questioned.

Ranma shook his head at her being slow. "Don't you understand? It's the only way I can stop her from doing her antics," he answered softly, not wanting Shampoo to hear it otherwise she would snap. Yet, his plan didn't seem to work as she kept making her way to them.

Few moments later, Shampoo was already right in front of her. "It's a thing Akane will never forget," she said. She slowly moved her arm, showing what she was hiding behind. Akane kinda expected a knife in her hand but she was a bit surprised to see another thing.

"Huh?" She raised an eyebrow in confusion, seeing a small box in her rival's hand and loosening up.

Shampoo smiled widely at her. "Happy birthday, Akane!" she greeted.

Ranma looked at her and the small box. He took it and shook it, trying to figure out what was inside. "Is this some kind of a gift or something?"

"Yes. That's Shampoo's gift for Akane," she said, taking the box from him. "Oh well," she took Akane's hand and handed the box to her.

"Thank you! I didn't really expect this but thanks anyway," Akane said and then let out a sigh, feeling relieved. She looked at the box again, wondering what was inside. _Wait. I know Shampoo. She doesn't do things like this unless she gets something out of it._ _She must be planning something._ She suspected.

Shampoo carefully studied her face. "Don't worry Akane. Shampoo don't do mischief today," she said as if she knew what Akane was thinking. Well, she's correct.

There was silence between the two girls for a few seconds until Ranma broke it, putting her hands on their shoulders. "Hey Shampoo, Akane's having birthday dinner tonight. I'm sure she wants you to come. Right, Akane?"

"You know, Ranma. I can I always speak for myself, thanks," Akane said with a bit of sarcasm in her voice and then turned to Shampoo. "Well, Ranma has said it so you wanna come?" she asked, picking her bag up.

Shampoo nodded and the three of them started walking.

"I wonder if Ukyo, Ryoga and the others are there," Akane spoke all of a sudden.

"Knowing them, I guess they're there already," Ranma responded.

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"Miss Hana, are you sure you wanna do this?" a man with grayish hair and long beard asked a straight, black-haired and dark brown-eyed beautiful, young lady, who was identified as Hana and sitting at the back of the car. "Does your father know about this?" he asked further.

Hana looked down to a 3-year-old boy beside her and then looked at the man who asked her. "I do want to do this for my son," she answered.

"But does your father know about this? You haven't answered that question yet," the man asked again as he drove along the road to Nerima.

"No but I guess he'll understand why I do this. Yoshi needs his father that's why we're going to Nerima to get him," Hana said and held the small hand of the kid, who was her son.

"I don't want to be nosy but do you love Mr. Yoshi's father? How do you think he will react on this? I mean, you haven't seen him in 3 years and now you're gonna show up there and tell him about the kid he has never known," the man asked.

"I don't know, Tetsuya. Maybe I love him, maybe I don't. Come on. I'm just doing this for Yoshi."

"Ms. Hana, you're still young to handle this kind of situation. There's me and your father who will guide and love Mr. Yoshi the way his real dad should do. What if he rejects the both of you?"

"That's a risk I'm willing to take. And besides, a father can't deny his own child, can he? I know you're saying this because you care for us, Tetsuya. You're like my second dad after all. But, I think I can handle this. I'm a grown-up now. I'm 19."

"But you're still a teenager. Anyway, if that guy does anything to harm the both of you, I'll be here to protect you."

"Thank you, Tetsuya."

"Mommy, when will I see daddy?" Yoshi asked, looking up to her mom's face.

"As soon as we get there, sweetie," she answered and then kissed the boy's forehead.

Later on, they reached a place where a signboard that said "Welcome to Nerima!" stood. "We're here. Now, we have to find where he lives," the man, who was called Tetsuya said, seeing it.

Hana looked out the window to see the place. "It's so nice to be back to Japan."

"One thing, Ms. Hana. Do you know which part of Nerima he lives?"

"Yeah, I had one of our people research for it and they happened to find out that he's living at the Tendo's, who has a school of Anything Goes Martial Arts."

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"We're home!" Ranma and Akane yelled out as soon as they stepped foot into the house of Tendo's. He slid the door open and party poppers popped at their arrival.

"Happy birthday, Akane!" everyone shouted out with gleam. The Tendos, Genma, Happousai, Cologne, Ukyo, Ryoga, The Kunos, Mousse were there.

"Wow! You sure did invite our friends, huh?" Akane said, approaching them. "Thanks a lot for coming here."

"Great-granddaughter, have you given the present to Akane already," Cologne suddenly asked Shampoo.

"Uh huh but Akane don't open the present yet," she answered, sitting beside her ancient-looking great-grandmother.

Okay…" Ranma spoke, looking around the room, "but where's the food?"

Genma and Soun stood up and stepped outside to the garden. "It's over there," they said, pointing toward the dojo.

"Yeah, all of the other guests are in the dojo now, waiting for us," Kasumi said after them.

"Is that so? Well then let's go to the dojo!" Ranma exclaimed, seeming to be more excited than the birthday girl was. He was the first one to get out and proceeded to the dojo. Could it be because he wanted to forget his nervousness so he could finally give his gift that seemed to be a case of a ring?

Everyone just looked at him.

"Shouldn't I be the one who's acting that way? Something weird is happening to Ranma today and I don't know what that is. Anyway, let's go," Akane said and all of them began walking to the dojo where the party was at.

Akane opened the door and she was surprised to see the dojo packed with people. "You're all here!" she exclaimed, seeing all of her friends in high school and college, and her family's relatives. She looked to her back to see the people who were with her earlier but they all disappeared. _Now where have they gone to? Oh Well. _She didn't mind it as she approached the visitors.

The dojo was decorated with flowers and balloons. The set-up was just like that of the Christmas party her family had a year ago except there were no Christmas trees. There was a stage with red curtains hanging on the ceiling down to the stage floor.

Moments later, lights were turned off and a spotlight shone toward the stage.

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**Author's Notes:** So what do you think of it? Is it crappy or what? Comments and Criticisms are always welcome. Well, the constructive ones of course. More reviews make me wanna write more. Thank you for reading!


	2. When Two Girls of Different Kinds Meet

**Disclaimer:** I own Ranma ½! Just kidding. Of course I don't own it. Rumiko Takahashi does. Anyway, the title of the story comes from the song, **Here Without You by 3 Doors Down**. The only thing I own is the plot and some characters that don't exist in the manga/anime.

**Author's Notes: **Yay! I come back for another update. I started writing the second chapter right after when I saw a reply which is from… **Matrias**! Whoever you are, thanks for dropping by and reading my fic. I hope it didn't waste your time and you would continue reading this. Thank you thank you thank you thank you! Also, a wonderful onechan of mine that I just met few days ago on ate Chette's forum, Akira aka **ArchangelAki**, left a comment. She's really awesome! Thank you very much as well! And Akira, because you gave me a review, here is another update.

Oh yeah. I figured there were some errors in the first chapter so I worked on it. I'm not so sure if it's completely free of errors. Well, please do bear with the typos you might see.

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**HERE WITHOUT YOU **

**Chapter 2 – When Two Girls of Different Kinds Meet **

As Tetsuya drove along the street, Hana couldn't help but think of what he said to her earlier. Her mind seemed to be confused. _No, I don't love him._ Her mind spoke as she thought about the young man whom she had met three years ago. But then, why was she doing this? Sure, it's because her son, Yoshi wanted to be with his dad so badly but she could just hire an actor who could act to be his dad. She's the daughter of the CEO of a multinational corporation. She surely could do everything she wanted.

Honestly, she was being nervous right now. She didn't know if they would be accepted or rejected. She hoped they would be accepted but what if they were rejected? She didn't care if she would get hurt emotionally but how about Yoshi? How would he handle this? She cared about Yoshi more than she cared about her own life.

Before, she used to hate her son when he's still in her womb. She even planned to have an abortion so she could get rid of him. She hated herself, being knocked up by a person she never really knew about and becoming pregnant at 16. Well, she knew the guy by face and name but never deeply knew who he was. She just found him in her house in Itabashi one night when she got home from a friend's party. When she found him, she was drunk and so was he. A couple of days after, she never saw him but she still remembered his face and name. She was so young and reckless at that time.

When Yoshi was finally, born, she had never been so happy. She was glad she didn't go for abortion otherwise she'd miss the most wonderful miracle she had just seen. More importantly, she's thankful for having him. He helped her become responsible. Since then, she promised that she'd take care of him. She proved that she could raise him alone, without the help of her son's dad but things began to change when an illness suddenly struck poor little Yoshi.

Yoshi tugged her mom's sleeve and looked up to her. "Mommy, are we there yet?" the boy questioned, interrupting her mom's deep thinking.

Hana looked down to him. "Not yet," she said, answering him. Then, she looked out the window to see where they were going and saw a signboard that said 'Tendo's School of Anything Goes Martial Arts' hanging beside a wooden gate. "This must be the house," she whispered as her heart began to pound.

"Miss Hana, we are here," Tetsuya said, pulling over the sidewalk. He opened the door, stepped off the car and slammed it shut. He proceeded to the side where Hana was sitting and opened the door for her. He saw her staring at the gate and not getting off. "What's the matter?" he asked, sensing that there's something wrong.

"I don't know if I can face him," she answered in a soft tone.

"If you want, we can just leave and go back to Itabashi or to America."

Hana let out a sigh to release the tension her heart was holding. "No," she said back and stepped off the car. Yoshi just followed her. "Yoshi, be a good kid okay? Impress your father. Show him that you've been a good kid," she told him, almost squeezing his hand.

"Yes mommy," Yoshi answered, nodding and smiling. He was so excited to see his dad for the first time.

Tetsuya closed the door of the car and led the way toward the gate. "Strange. The gate is open and no one seems at home," he said, taking a look through the open gate. He rang the doorbell but no one came.

"Maybe they don't hear it. Try again," Hana spoke, getting fidgety.

Tetsuya rang it several times but still, no one came to them. "I guess we just have to enter," he said.

Yoshi shook his head at them and said, "It's rude to enter someone else's house without permission."

"Yeah but," Hana said.

Tetsuya still entered, not minding what the kid said and the rest just followed him. They walked to the door and then found a note posted on it. "Akane's birthday party is held in the dojo. Feel free to come and celebrate with us," he read aloud.

"Maybe they are in the dojo. Let's check it out," Hana said and the three of them walked around and went to the dojo.

As soon as they got there, they entered. It was rather dark, having the lights turned off but there's a spotlight directed to the center of the stage. They looked around and saw silhouettes of people. They just stood by the entrance.

Moments later, there was a sound of a horn and the curtains were pulled up. A girl in ridiculously black coat and pants, white shirt and black ribbon with matching black hat showed up the stage.

"Good evening, everyone! I'm Nabiki Tendo, your host for tonight's party. How is it going?" Nabiki said, making a nice introduction. Almost everyone cheered in response. "Before we get this party started, let's give it up for Shampoo, Ukyo Kuonji and Kodachi Kuno!"

Silence fell in the dojo. The people set their eyes on the stage as three lovely girls made their entrance and Nabiki walked off. Akana seemed to be surprised as she thought Shampoo had no idea about the party and yet she's there onstage and going to perform as if she prepared for it.

Before the three could start, Ukyo cleared her throat and made some intros. "Hello there! I'm Ukyo, and these two here are my rivals, Shampoo and Kodachi. Well, we're here to sing a special song for another rival, who is other than the birthday girl Akane," she said.

"Yeah. We kinda decided to forget first our rivalry to make Akane feel that even though we fight her to get Ranma, we still love her as a friend," Kodachi added.

The music soon began and the three girls swayed along the tune. They clasped their microphones in their hands and brought them up to their mouths. Soon, they began singing.

Akane was actually enjoying. She was touched by what she known to be her rivals. As the performance was going on, she sang along silently. She liked the song very much. It was the same song she and others sang during the Christmas party.

It lasted for almost 3 minutes. As it ended, the audience made a standing ovation as if they had just watched a concert. Shampoo, Ukyo and Kodachi exited after their performance.

By the entrance, Tetsuya, Hana and Yoshi saw the whole thing. They, too, applauded along with the others.

"That's pretty good. I'm amazed," Hana complimented as she clapped. "Did you enjoy it, Yoshi?"

"Yeah," Yoshi said, clapping his little hands.

The dojo became quiet again as Nabiki went back onstage to go on with her hosting. Hana wasn't really paying attention as she's thinking about the three girls she had just seen and the girl whose name was mentioned by them. _So, Ranma has so many girlfriends, doesn't he?_

"The next performance will be of two men who are close to Akane's hearts. Any guesses who they are?" Nabiki asked, interacting with the audience. She looked as if she's a professional host or something.

Everyone cheered again in response.

"Okay. Without further ado, let's give it up for Soun Tendo, me and Akane's dad, and Genma Saotome, who is Akane's fiancé's dad!"

Music began and Soun and Genma made their entrance from both sides of the stage, doing some funny acts. Soun grabbed a mic and started speaking. "Good evening ladies and gentlemen!" he greeted as he raised his hand. Genma raised both of his hands too.

"We're not singing, just to let you know. But, we're doing something different tonight."

There was a mixture of boos and cheers among the audience.

"Instead, we're gonna dance!" as soon as Soun said that, some funky music played and the two began to dance.

Everyone seemed to enjoy the number. Well, it's really fun and amusing as they were doing well at it. The two waved their hands up and down to the beat and moved their hips left and right. They did some rolling too! Who would have thought Soun and Genma could do it especially at their age?

Akane cheered, supporting her parents. "Go daddies!" she exclaimed as she clapped.

"Mommy, that guy is so funny," Yoshi said, tugging his mom's hand and pointing at them.

Hana heard this and asked, "Which one, son?"

"The guy with the glasses," he answered.

"Oh. That guy," she said. She studied Genma's appearance as she tried to remember who he was. She was pretty sure she saw him before. Few seconds later, she finally remembered. _Mister Saotome, we meet again._

After the performance, the lights were finally turned on.

"Very nice, isn't it?" Nabiki said, walking onstage. She expected an answer from the audience and the audience didn't disappoint her.

Later on, the party continued. Kasumi and the other girls served the food to the visitors and Akane went to help them. "That won't be necessary, Akane. It's your party and you have to enjoy it. Leave the rest of the work to us," Kasumi told her with a smile.

"But sis, I really wanna help. I can enjoy the party and serve at the same time, can't I? Don't worry about me," she said and took a tray of sushi and sashimi.

"Okay. Suit yourself," Kasumi said.

As they were serving, Akane saw unfamiliar faces standing by the dojo's entrance. Carrying the tray, she approached them and gave them a warm welcome even though she had no idea who these people were.

"Good evening!" she greeted enthusiastically. "Welcome to my birthday party."

Tetsuya, Hana and Yoshi bowed at her, showing respect. "Good evening as well. We're so glad to be here," Hana said.

"Oh yeah. Please come in and join us," Akane said and began walking, leading them to a table. They followed her with no hesitation. Yet, Akane hadn't found a vacant table so she led them to her family's table instead which was unoccupied at the moment.

"Thank you very much," Tetsuya told her gratefully.

"No problem. Here's your food," she put three plates of sushi on the table. "I'll be back with your drinks," she said and immediately left.

Hana looked at her as she walked off. _She must be Akane Tendo. I believe she's one of Ranma's girlfriends._

Yoshi just stared down at his food with chopsticks beside it. He couldn't start eating as he didn't know how to use chopsticks. Never in his life had he used chopsticks as there were no chopsticks back in America. And when he and Hana went back to Itabashi, he still didn't use them. "Mommy, where's the spoon and fork?" he asked.

"I don't think there's spoon and fork here. Let me teach you how to use these," Hana said as she got her chopsticks. "You hold them like this and pick food like this," she demonstrated.

Moments later, Akane came back carrying a tray of glasses and put them on top of the table. She took a glance over the child and saw him having difficulty in using chopsticks. "You don't know how to use chopsticks, do you?"

"He doesn't because he only uses spoon and fork," Hana replied.

"Well then, I'll get one for him. You guys might want spoon and fork too."

"Yes please."

"Okay," Akane went off to get spoon and fork and it wasn't long before she came back with them. "Here you go," she said, putting them on the table. "Do you guys mind if I sit with you?" she asked. _Hmmm… Who are these people? Maybe they're Ranma's friends. _

"Not at all. After all, this is your place," Tetsuya answered as the others began to eat.

"Okay then," Akane sat beside them. "I believe we haven't met before. I'm Akane Tendo," she said, introducing herself to them.

"Yeah we know. I'm Hana Fukui and these are Yoshi and Tetsuya, my bodyguard," she said politely, introducing them and her self. "It's nice to meet you."

" Fukui?" Akane repeated. The sound of that name seemed familiar to her. "Are you related to Ishijima Fukui, the CEO of Fukui Cars Corporation?" she questioned again. (**A/N:** I just made it up. Fukui Cars Corp. doesn't exist nor did it exist in the past.)

Hana nodded, amazed to hear that her dad had gone famous. "He's my dad," she answered. "How do you know about him?"

"Well, since I'm studying business, I have to know about CEOs and business-related stuff as part of my coursework. Anyway," Akane paused as she glanced over the kid who was eating and sitting beside Hana. "His name is Yoshi, right? Your brother is so cute! He kinda looks like Ranma but Yoshi is much cuter than him," she complimented, noticing the slight resemblance.

"Oh," Hana couldn't say more. She couldn't tell her yet. She had to tell Ranma first before she could tell her.

"So you guys probably are Ranma's friends. I never knew he had other friends," Akane said.

"Ummm yeah," Hana carefully responded as she didn't wanna break the news suddenly. "We are his friends. Speaking of whom, where is he?"

"I don't know. He kinda disappeared."

What they didn't know was Ranma was in the backstage, practicing what she's gonna say to Akane. "Akane, here's my gift for you. It's a ring," he uttered but whenever he did, he couldn't help but blush and feel nervous. _What the heck! Come on, Ranma! It's just Akane. How come you can't tell it to her directly? It's so damn simple. _His mind scolded him.

Yeah, it was a simple thing to say to girl but for some reason, he couldn't say it in front of her. He took a deep breath.

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**Author's Notes:** How is it going so far? I'm sorry if my chapter titles kinda suck. Anyway, please don't forget to review on each chapter before you leave. I wanna know what you guys think of my fic. Comments and criticisms are always welcome. Well, the constructive ones of course. More reviews make me wanna write more. Thank you for reading!


	3. Revelations

**Disclaimer:** I own Ranma ½! Just kidding. Of course I don't own it. Rumiko Takahashi does. Anyway, the title of the story comes from the song, **Here Without You by 3 Doors Down**. The only thing I own is the plot and some characters that don't exist in the manga/anime.

**Author's Notes:** Thank God the exams are done. Now, I can continue writing this fic. I'm so happy. Before I carry on, I wanna thank the people who have reviewed my fic. They are **jr1000**, **ranma girl 14**, **Nysk**, **Nikisha**, **urzu6**, **ArchangelAk**i (once again), **Xero Reflux Strike**, and **Black Kitsuna**. Thank you very much! To make my gratitude more complete, here are my replies to your concerns.

**jr1000** – Novel quality writing? Awww. It's so nice of you to tell me that. 

**ranma girl 14** – You'll find out soon. Until then, read and review my fic.

**Nysk** – Well, all will be explained later.

**Nikisha **– I don't know how to say this but I'm gonna say it anyway. There's nothing wrong with using off instead of out, is there? Anyway, thanks for the review. I hope you come back and read again.

**Urzu6 **– Thanks! You'll find out later.

**ArchangelAki** – Onechan! hugs Here's another update. 

**Xero Reflux Strike** – Hiya! Thank you. By the way, what does my fic lack? Do you mind telling me about it?

**Black Kitsuna** – Wow! It's okay that you're psycho cuz I am too. Anyway, thanks for reading! I hope you read and review again next time.

To those who are reading my fic but haven't submitted a review yet, please submit so I'll know what you think of it. You know, I'm kinda fishing for reviews here because I love them. They make me happy.  So yeah. Please do submit one.

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**HERE WITHOUT YOU**

**Chapter 2 – Revelations**

Two old looking guys walked slowly to the dimly lit backstage area as they chattered about the performance that they did a while ago. Soun and Genma remarked the backaches they were experiencing due to their unbelievable actions they did onstage. However, they were still proud of themselves to have done something like that at their age.

"What a pain! But it's worth it," Soun said, touching his lower back and stretching.

"Yeah. We did a great job. Did you even see how happy Akane was when she was watching our dance?" Genma responded, hitting Soun's back pretty hard that made him groan.

"Ow! I think my spine has just cracked," he uttered.

"It will be gone someday," Genma told him and stretched his arms up and his torso. Suddenly, he heard his bones crack. "Here comes the pain!" he exclaimed and groaned slightly.

"Saotome, we really are getting old," Soun said.

"I have no doubt about that."

As they were heading toward the backstage exit, they saw Ranma sitting few meters ahead of them. He seemed to be disturbed as he was talking to no one but to himself. Soun and Genma raised their brows in confusion and looked at each other.

"Genma, has your son become insane? He's talking to himself," Soun questioned.

Genma shook his head, "I don't know."

"You know I don't want a lunatic son-in-law," Soun added.

"Let's take a closer look," Genma said, painting a mischievous smile on his face. He seemed to feel like eavesdropping at the moment.

Together, they sneaked forward and headed toward a trunk which was just few inches away from Ranma. They did it as quietly as possible so he wouldn't notice them, which was pretty successful by the way. Hiding behind the trunk, they carefully watched his every move.

Ranma, on the other hand, was still practicing his lines to the point that he nearly forgot what he's gonna say. Was he really that nervous to face Akane? He took the small, leather case out his pocket and stared at it. "Oh man!" he said and opened it. He took the ring out of the case and held it up to see it clearly. It's a diamond ring that looked more like an engagement ring.

"How am I gonna give this to Akane without stuttering?" he let out a deep sigh.

Seeing this, Soun and Genma's eyes and mouth widened in astonishment. Their plans would finally be fulfilled as Ranma would propose to Akane or so they thought.

"Hooray!" the both of them jumped out of their hiding place, which freaked Ranma out and caused him to drop the ring.

"What are you two doing here? You are being nosy again, aren't you!" Ranma immediately stood up, looking angrily at them. He was shocked to see them.

"You don't need to be mad at us, son," Genma said.

"And why not? You guys almost gave me a heart attack!" Ranma couldn't help but raise his tone at them. After all, his mind was beginning to explode because of his mixed feelings.

"Calm down, Ranma," Soun reached for his future son-in-law's back and gave him a pat. "We didn't mean to freak you out. We're just happy that you're gonna propose to my daughter, Akane. Well, it's not really necessary since you two are engaged from the very beginning but anyway, we're happy you're wanting her to be your bride," he said, tears of joy nearly fell from his eyes. He seemed to be overjoyed.

"Propose?" Ranma backed off, kinda confused.

"Yeah, propose. Isn't it what the ring is for?" Genma questioned. He and Soun's happiness stopped for a moment.

"Okay, let me make things clear. The ring is just a gift for Akane. There's nothing especial about it," Ranma clarified, shaking his head at his two fathers and putting his one hand on his hip and the other on his head. "You guys like to jump to conclusions, don't you?"

"Giving a ring to girl is the same as proposing, isn't it?" Genma wondered.

"Well, not in my dictionary. Speaking of the ring, where is it? I dropped it somewhere here when the two of you suddenly came out of nowhere," Ranma narrowed his eyes at them and then began to look around for the ring.

Feeling guilty, they helped him find. It wasn't long before they found it beside a box. Soun picked it up. "Here it is," he said, handing it over to Ranma. "Why have you not given it to her yet?"

Ranma put the ring back into the case and put it inside his pocket. "Well, I'm kinda nervous. I don't know. It's pretty hard to explain," he said, looking down.

"Why don't you let us help you in that? You know we can help you," Genma told him.

Soun looked at Genma, "We can do that?" Genma just nodded at him.

"No. The last thing I'll do is to let you do that. I don't believe you," Ranma answered, shaking his head and crossing his arms across his built chest.

"Just trust us and leave everything to us," Genma added.

Ranma still doubted about that but what could he do? He knew in his heart that he could not do it all by himself. He obviously needed help but not from them. It took him a while to decide on that.

Moments later, he sighed. "Okay, I let you help me but if you guys screw up, I don't know what I'll do to the both of you."

"Ranma, how could you talk to us like that? We are your fathers, remember? Have you no respect for us?"

He just shrugged and didn't answer.

"So what are we gonna do?" Soun asked Genma, scratching his head. He apparently didn't have an idea about it.

Genma signaled them to come closer and they did. Then, all of them sat down on the floor in a circle. "Here's what I think," Genma started and they listened to him intently.

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Back inside the dojo, Akane and Hana couldn't stop talking with each other. They chattered about themselves as if they had known each other for so long. Obviously, Hana couldn't tell her about the secret behind the resemblance between Ranma and Yoshi. Wasn't it a while ago when the two had just met and now they seemed to be the best of friends?

"How did you and Ranma meet? You're his friend, right?" Akane asked all of a sudden. She's getting curious of this girl's relationship with Ranma. Though she wouldn't admit it, she cared about Ranma and his relationship with other people, especially those she never really knew.

"Well if I'm not mistaken, it was 3 years ago when I met him with his dad in my house. I was on my vacation that time. From USA, I came back to my family's vacation house at Itabashi. The caretaker of the house let him and his dad stay for a night or two and told me that they were very exhausted that they needed a lot of rest," Hana told her.

"Oh I see. Ranma and Genma had been traveling around China and Japan before they came here and stayed with us. What happened next?" Akane asked again, seeming to be interested.

"Actually, I was not sober when I met him as I was drunk. It was when I got home from my friend's party. So the first time I saw him, I was groggy and so was he. I bet he had been drinking with the caretaker or something. Then," Hana stopped before she could tell Akane the whole story. _She shouldn't know. Not yet._

Noticing Hana's pause, Akane wondered, "Then what?"

Hana just took a deep breath as she couldn't answer her. _Come on, Hana. Think of a lie._ She spoke no words for a moment as she thought of a white lie.

Akane simply stared at her blankly, waiting for the continuation of Hana's story.

Suddenly, the lights were turned off again and the spotlight was directed to the stage. Few seconds later, Nabiki walked onstage to the spot where the light was pointing to. She held up her mic and began to speak.

"I'm back again! How's the food?" she asked and then raised the mic over the audience, expecting a response from them. Once again, the audience never disappointed her. "Delicious, isn't it? My wonderful sister, Kasumi cooked it so let's give her a warm round of applause."

Everyone did what Nabiki told. Claps and cheers filled the whole dojo.

"Anyway, I'm told that there's gonna be another special performance to be done here tonight. Who wants to see it?"

Without a doubt, the audience cheered.

"Okay! I wanna see it too. Oh my God! This is gonna be exciting," Nabiki said with a gleaming smile on her face. "Without further ado, let's welcome Ranma Saotome!"

Hana turned her head to the stage upon hearing the name. Her eyes were filled with shimmer, hoping see the father of her son again. _At last, I'll see you again, Ranma._

"Ranma?" Akane said in disbelief. "I thought he wasn't gonna do something like that. Oh well," she gazed at the stage and waited for Ranma to come out.

Behind were Ranma, Soun and Genma. Ranma looked at them, couldn't believe what he had just heard. "What the hell! I thought you're gonna come with me onstage," he retorted.

"Come on, Ranma. It's your big chance. It is now or never," Genma said.

Ranma stared at the blank stage and at the audience. He became more nervous as he saw many eyes focused on the stage, waiting for him. He felt like he would melt. "Never," he said and gulped, walking off.

"Oh my son, you can do this," Soun grabbed Ranma by the collar and threw him onstage.

Luckily, Ranma landed to his feet and maintained his balance. He faced the two guys back with a glare. "You don't have to throw me, do you!" he yelled, not noticing the people staring at him.

"Hey Ranma!" Akane called out.

Ranma turned around and finally kept his temper. More chills ran down his whole body as he timidly stood there doing nothing. For the last few seconds, nothing happened.

Soun and Genma saw this so they decided to walk out of the dark area to the center where Ranma was standing. Genma stopped beside him as Soun walked to Nabiki to get the mic.

"As you can see, Ranma is having a bit of a problem here so we, Soun and Genma, will do it in his place," Soun uttered as he walked over to the Saotomes.

Later, the two began to sing even without music to sing to. Ranma just stood there in the middle and watched them make fools of themselves. _If it isn't for me and my stupid emotions, this won't be happening._

Suddenly, they stopped singing and walked down the stage to where Akane was sitting. Then, they took her hands and made her stand up. "Akane, you need to go up," Soun whispered to her ear.

"What? But why?" Akane asked.

"We need you there," her father answer and she nodded.

Soun and Genma escorted her to the center of the stage where Ranma stood. They didn't carry on with the song but instead began to talk about the reason behind this.

"Ranma has asked us to do this on his behalf as he can't do it by himself," Soun started, facing the audience.

"We, as his thoughtful fathers, have decided to do him a favor," Genma added. Then, he walked to Ranma and took the small leather case that contained the ring.

Suddenly, the two knelt before her and Soun took Akane's hand. She began to feel weird about this but didn't say anything. As Soun held her hand, Genma held the case up to her. "Akane, will you marry Ranma?" they asked in unison.

Of course, Shampoo, Ukyo and Kodachi began to fume in their seats. The rest of the people didn't react as they were waiting for Akane's response. Hana couldn't say anything. _How am I gonna tell Ranma? How can I tell him without ruining his and Akane's relationship?_

Tetsuya immediately stood up and yelled, "Stop it! A marriage won't be happening."

All eyes went to him. Soun and Genma stood up as well and faced him. "What do you think you're doing?" Soun asked back.

Hana looked up to Tetsuya and pulled his arm. "Please don't make a scene. Sit down," she whispered.

He didn't listen to her as he continued, "Ranma can't be married to Akane because he has a huge responsibility to do."

"Responsibility?" Ranma questioned. "What responsibility?"

"You see this kid?" he said, pointing to Yoshi, "He's your son."

"WHAT!" Ranma exclaimed in shock. All eyes seemed to widen as the people couldn't believe what they just heard.

Few tears formed in Akane's eyes. She felt like her heart was stabbed. _Stupid Ranma._

Hana couldn't hold her peace any longer and stood up. "Ranma, we need to talk." She walked to the door leaving Yoshi and Tetsuya.

Soun faced Ranma with a disappointed look on his face. He grabbed Ranma's shoulders and shook him. "What's the meaning of this?"

Ranma shook his head, "I don't know what they are talking about."

"Son, you need to talk to that girl," Genma told him.

Ranma shook his again, "No. I ain't talking to her. Who is she anyway?"

Akane marched over to him and slapped him on the face. "Follow her you idiot!" she yelled at him with her flushed face.

Ranma sighed and jumped down the stage. Heading to the door, he walked through a bunch of people staring at him.

"Ranma," Ukyo called him as he reached the door. He didn't turn around as he walked out.

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**Author's Notes: **Too crappy? I know. Please don't flame me. Comments and Criticisms are always welcome. Well, the constructive ones of course. More reviews make me wanna write more. Thank you for reading!


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